Classification

The Morel mushroom is within
the domain of Eukarya because it has membrane bound
organelles as well as a true nucleus with linear DNA which is two
traits that all Eukaryotes share.

Kingdom: Fungi

The kingdom for this organism is Fungi. Morels
are included in this kingdom because they are
non-vascular, have cell walls made of chitin, reproduce by means of spores, produce
both asexual and sexual spores depending on
conditions and are not motile. The morel shares this
group with such organisms as the
Oyster Mushroom and the
Magic Mushroom.

Phylum: Ascomycota

Morel are part of the Ascomycota or sac fungi.
They are part of this because the have sexual spores
which are borne internally on a sac called the ascus.
The asexual spores are borne externally as conidia.
Fungi acquire nutrients in a special way different
way. Instead of ingesting then digesting, they
digest then ingest the nutrients! Morels share these
features with other organisms like the
Caterpillar Fungus and
The Cyclosporine Producer.

Class: Discomycetes/Pizizomycetes

Morels are within the class of Discomycetes which
means their fleshy fruiting bodies are disk-like or
cup-shaped. They are put into this class because of
the characteristic of their asci being one-walled
with pores or slits.

Order: Pezizales

Morels are part of the Pizizales order because of
the morphology of their Septa. Septa are the pores
within the cells of the asci which increase the flow
of the nuclei, ribosomes and mitochondria. Septa are
important in the reproductive process of karyogamy
(The fusing of two nuclei).

Family: Morchellaceae

Morels are part of this family because of the
most important feature that they are edible. They're
also included in the family Morchellaceae because of
the number of nuclei found in the spores. Their asci
also do not turn blue in iodine and have smooth,
elliptical spores with homogeneous content. Morels
share this family with others such as Verpa and
Disciotis.

Genus: Morchella

Morels belong to this genus because they are part
of the "True Morels." The "True Morels" are
edible and have a distinctive honeycomb-like upper
portion that is composed of a network of ridges and
pits. The word Morchella comes from the
German word morchel which means murshroom.

Species: Morchella
esculentoides

Morels belong to the genus Morchella for
the same reason as explained above.
Esculentoides means "Like the delicious one" so
the full meaning of the morel would be something
along the lines of "The delicious mushroom". This
name is of course fitting because morels do taste
delicious.

Common Name: Morel Mushroom

The common names comes from Latin and German. The
word morel in Latin means brown and morchel (from
Morchella) means mushroom. Thus when
Morchella is broken down into Latin and German
it translates to "Brown Mushroom" or "Morel
Mushroom."